History of Hertfordshire
The history of Hertfordshire includes such a number of events of primary importance that it is somewhat difficult to make a selection of those most fitted to appear in the limited space available.
—Richard Lydekker, author of Hertfordshire, writing in 1909.[1]
Hertfordshire is an English county, founded in the Norse–Saxon wars of the 9th century, and developed through commerce serving London. It is a land-locked county that was several times the seat of Parliament. From origins in brewing and papermaking, through aircraft manufacture, the county has developed a wider range of industry in which pharmaceuticals, financial services and film-making are prominent. Today, with a population slightly over 1 million, Hertfordshire services, industry and commerce dominate the economy, with fewer than 2000 people working in agriculture, forestry and fishing.
Hertfordshire is one of the historic counties of England first recorded in the early 10th century. Its development has been tied with that of London, which lies on its southern border. London is the largest city in Western Europe; it requires an enormous tonnage of supplies each day and Hertfordshire grew wealthy on the proceeds of trade because no less than three of the old Roman roads serving the capital run through it, as do the Grand Union Canal and other watercourses. In the 19th century, rail links sprang up in the county, linking London to the north. Hatfield in Hertfordshire has seen two rail crashes of international importance (in 1870 and 2000).
Though nowadays Hertfordshire tends to be politically conservative, historically it was the site of a number of uprisings against the Crown, particularly in the First Barons' War, the Peasants' Revolt, the Wars of the Roses and the English Civil War. The county has a rich intellectual history, and many writers of major importance, from Geoffrey Chaucer to Beatrix Potter, have connections there. Quite a number of prime ministers were born or grew up in Hertfordshire.
The county contains a curiously large number of abandoned settlements, which K. Rutherford Davis attributes to a mixture of poor harvests on soil hard to farm, and the Black Death which ravaged Hertfordshire starting in 1349.
Early history
The earliest evidence of human occupation in Hertfordshire come from a gravel pit in Rickmansworth. The finds (of flint tools) date back 350,000 years,[2] long before Britain became an island.
People have probably lived in the land now called Hertfordshire for about 12,000 years, since the Mesolithic period[3] in Ware (making Ware one of the oldest continuously occupied sites in Europe).[4] Settlement continued through the Neolithic period, with evidence of occupation sites, enclosures, long barrows and even an unusual dog cemetery in the region.[5][6] Although occupied, the area had a relatively low population in the Neolithic and early Bronze Age, perhaps because of its heavy, relatively poorly drained soil.[7] Nevertheless, just south of present-day Ware and Hertford there is some evidence of an increase in the population, with typical round huts and farming activity having been found at a site called Foxholes Farm.[8] There is no evidence of settlement at Hertford itself from this period,[9] although Ware and perhaps Hertford seem to have been occupied during Roman times.[10]
In the
There is a wealth of Iron Age burial sites in Hertfordshire, making it a place of international importance in Iron Age study.[12] The large number of sites of all types indicates dense and complex settlement patterns immediately prior to the Roman invasion.[13]
The Roman Invasion of Britain
In 55 BCE when the Romans first attempted to invade Britain, the
A number of
Hertfordshire in the Early Middle Ages
After the
King Offa of Mercia (died 796) built a church at Hitchin in Hertfordshire, but it burned down in 910 CE and the monks moved to St Albans.[32] Offa defeated Beornred of Mercia at Pirton, near Hitchin and gave his name to the village of Offley ("Offa's Lea").[33] Some sources (including Matthew Paris, who was a monk at St Albans) suggest he died at Offley,[33] though he was buried fifteen miles away in Bedford.[34] One of Offa's last acts was to found St Albans Abbey.[35]
Origins of the county
The word Hertfordshire (Saxon "Heorotfordscir" or "Heorotfordscír") is attested from 866.[36] The first reference (as "Heoroford") in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is for 1011,[37] but the county's true origins lie in the 10th century, when Edward the Elder established two burhs in Hertford in 912 and 913 respectively.[38][Notes 2] Hertfordshire did not exist in any practical sense in the late 9th century. In the war between
Alfred was also responsible for building weirs on the River Lea at
Early Middle Ages
Alfred died in 899, and his son Edward the Elder worked with Alfred's son-in-law,
There is considerable evidence of a mint in Hertford at this period.
The
High Middle Ages
After the
The Domesday Book, completed in 1086, lists 168 settlements in Hertfordshire.[49][50] Hertfordshire's population grew quickly from then until the Black Death reached the county in 1349.[51] The Norman church at St Albans Abbey was finished in 1088.[52]
Hertfordshire had a conflicted relationship with the King during the High Middle Ages. Like most counties in the south-east,
Thomas Becket, who became Archbishop of Canterbury in 1161, held the honour of Berkhamsted Castle from 1155 until 1163. King Henry II celebrated Christmas there in 1163.[56]
Around this time, motte-and-bailey castles were built in Great Wymondley, Pirton and Therfield.[57] Watford was founded in the 12th century, probably as a result of a market and church set up there by the Abbot of St Albans.[58] In 1130, the earliest Pipe Roll shows that King Henry I's Queen Consort Adeliza owned property in the county.[59]
The first draft of
In winter 1217, royalist forces plundered St Albans, took captives and extorted £100 from the Abbot, who feared the abbey would be burned.[64]
In 1261
Hertfordshire is largely on a clay sub-soil, and much of its land, though rich, is "heavy" and not well-suited to crop cultivation with a medieval plough.[66] However, the county did grow good barley which later became important for the brewing trade.[67] Hertfordshire developed more through commerce than through agriculture which drove most of England's economy during this period.
In the High Middle Ages, the county was relatively urbanised by medieval standards, but because towns follow roads and Hertfordshire had many small roads rather than a few large ones, there was no large conurbation.[68][Notes 5]
Commerce grew in Hertfordshire from the start of the 12th century;[69] the number of markets and fairs rose steadily from about 1100 until the Black Death.[Notes 6] During the 13th century, Hertfordshire's commerce grew still further. The county traded in butter and cheese, and to a lesser extent meat, hides and leather. Much of this produce was bound for London.[71] The county also developed its inns and other services for travellers to and from London.[72]
The Knights Templar built Baldock, starting around 1140.[73] In 1185, a survey of the Knights' holdings showed Baldock had 122 tenants on 150 acres (0.61 km2) of land[74] and several skilled craftsmen. King John granted the Knights a fair and market at Baldock in 1199, to be held annually. It began on St Matthew's Day and lasted five days in all.[75] At around the same time, the leatherworking trade was prominent in Hitchin.[57]
An English pope
Nicholas Breakspear, the only Englishman ever to have been elected Pope, was born on a farm in Bedmond[76] or Abbots Langley[77] in Hertfordshire, probably around 1100. He was baptised in Abbots Langley. Nicholas was refused permission to become a monk at St Albans,[76] but his career does not seem to have suffered for this, and he was unanimously elected Pope on 2 December 1154, taking the papal name Adrian IV. He died in 1159.[78] He was the Pope who placed Rome under an interdict, and is famous for his alleged Donation of Ireland to the English throne.[79]
Late Middle Ages
In 1302, King Edward I granted Kings Langley to the Prince of Wales.[80] King Edward II's "favourite", Piers Gaveston, loved the palace at Kings Langley and he was buried there after his death in 1312.[63] Edmund of Langley, the first Duke of York and founder of the House of York, was born in Kings Langley on 5 June 1341 and died there on 1 August 1402.
Richard of Wallingford, the mathematician and astronomer, became Abbot of St Albans in 1326.[81] He is regarded as the father of modern trigonometry.[81]
Hertford Castle was used as a gaol for a series of important captives during the Hundred Years' War. This was actually a series of separate wars that lasted a total of 116 years, between 1337 and 1453. The Plantagenet kings of England fought the Valois kings of France, almost entirely on French soil. Queen Isabella was imprisoned by her son, the King, in Hertford Castle in 1330,[82][Notes 7] as were King David II of Scotland and his queen in 1346, after the Battle of Neville's Cross. King John II of France was imprisoned there in 1359[83] in considerable luxury.
The Black Death midway through the 14th century massively reduced Hertfordshire's population. The number of residents probably fell by 30%–50%, and likely took until the 16th century to recover.
After Wat Tyler had been caught and executed, King Richard II went to St Albans to quell the rebels.[86] Richard's body was buried at Kings Langley church in Hertfordshire in 1400,[87] but he was moved to Westminster Abbey in 1413, next to his wife Anne. That same year, King Henry IV appointed his knight Hugh de Waterton to Berkhamsted Castle to supervise his children John and Philippa.[87]
King Henry IV moved his government temporarily to St Albans early in his reign for fear of public opinion in London.[88] He gave the castle and honour of Hertford to Edmund, Earl of Stafford, and his wife Anne.[87] Edmund was killed at the Battle of Shrewsbury in 1403.[87] King Henry V married Catherine of France on 2 June 1420, and gave Hertford Castle to her.[89]
In 1413, King Henry V kept Easter at Kings Langley. He gave the alm of a groat to the poor.[90] Henry Chichele, the Archbishop of Canterbury, visited Barnet in 1423.[89] No bells rang, and the archbishop took offence at his poor welcome.[89] When he returned in 1426, the church doors were sealed against him.[89]
Three important battles of the
The
England's oldest surviving pub is in Hertfordshire and dates to this period. Ye Olde Fighting Cocks,[Notes 8] which is in St Albans, was rebuilt in 1485. Some of the foundation stones are even older, allegedly going back to the 8th century.
- First English paper and printing industry
One of the first three printing presses in England was in St Albans.[95] England's first paper mill, which was the property of John Tate, stood in Hertford opposite today's County Hospital from 1494; visited by Henry VII twice and producing a star and circle watermark on some versions of the papal bull recognising his right to reign over England.[91][96]
Renaissance
The long Elizabethan peace, and turmoil in Europe, conspired to raise English commercial power during the Renaissance.[97] European refugees also contributed to English wealth.[97] London was the centre of this new power,[98] and Hertfordshire's commerce benefited accordingly.
In November 1524,
Under Mary, who as Queen earned the
...a county every where abounding with fertile fields, fat pastures, shady groves and pleasant rivolets.
—James Brome, writing in 1700.[106]
James I, who was a confirmed dog-lover, also built a huge kennel (about 46 feet (14 m) long) and dog-yard (over half an acre in size) at Royston.[109] He seems to have loved Royston and spent considerable time there, hunting and feasting and enjoying himself—so much so that his favourite dog, Jowler, returned one evening with a note tied to his collar. The note read: "Good Mr Jowler, we pray you to speak to the King (for he hears you every day and so he doth not us) that it will please His Majesty to go back to London, for else the country will be undone; all our provision is spent already and we are not able to entertain him longer."[110]
During the
In 1647, the parliamentary army, still unpaid after their victory in the First English Civil War, camped on Thriploe Heath near Royston. They wrote to Parliament demanding their pay.[105] This led to a clash between Cromwell's army and the Levellers at Cockbush Field, near Ware, on 15 November 1647.[111] Cromwell captured and imprisoned the Levellers' "agitators" and a number were sentenced to death, though only one was actually executed.[112]
After the Great Fire of London, many children were sent to Hertfordshire: 62 were sent to Ware, and 56 to Hertford.[113] A few years later the mayor and people of Hertford petitioned King Charles II to confirm, amend and expand the town's charters.[114] Enquiries were made as to whether anyone would object, and three prominent men did, but the attorney general dismissed their objections on grounds of malice in 1680.[115] The town henceforth had its own coroner, who doubled as the town clerk, and both the court-day and market-day were changed so as not to coincide with nearby markets at Ware, Hoddesdon or Hatfield.[114]
In 1683, there was a
Modern era
In the last two centuries, Hertfordshire's population has multiplied tenfold. Around the end of the 18th century, its population was around 95,000.[116] In 1821, it was just under 130,000.[116] In 1881 it was just over 203,000,[116] and by 1921 it was just over 333,000.[116] By the 2001 census, it was 1,033,977.[117] During the 18th century brewing became an important industry in Hertfordshire.[67]
Mobilisation for the
The county also contributed soldiers to the French Revolutionary Wars. On 7 May 1794, lists opened for the Hertfordshire Yeomanry Cavalry Regiment, which comprised five troops of cavalry.[122] The Loyal Hemel Hempstead Volunteers formed in 1797.[123] Two further troops of volunteers were raised in 1798, at Borehamwood and Sawbridgeworth,[124] and the same year, the Hitchin Volunteers were also raised, but their duty was only to defend land within three miles (4.8 km) of Hitchin.[124][Notes 10]
In 1795, a Dr Walker wrote a report on agriculture and forestry in the county. He said "Herts is justly deemed the first and best corn county in the kingdom",[123] an assessment that may not be free from local bias. It nevertheless shows how more advanced farming techniques and soil improvement programmes had enabled farmers to work Hertfordshire's "heavier" soils to better effect since the Saxon–Norse wars.
Thanks to a rapidly increasing population and improved record-keeping practices, the volume of paper records for Hertfordshire in the 19th and 20th centuries is huge. Many of these documents are written or printed on paper made locally, at a time when paper-making joined brewing as another dominant industry in the county.[102]
In 1809,
In 1840, the Uniform Penny Post came in. Dickinson made paper for the stamps, and also for the Mulready envelopes.[131] He built a private gas works at Apsley in 1851.[132] In March 1886, John Dickinson & Co. Ltd. was incorporated with £500,000 in capital and 10 acres (40,000 m2) of glass houses.[133] By 1900, the company had 264 acres (1.07 km2) of glass houses in the Cheshunt area.[133]
Rothamsted Research, previously known as the Experimental Station and then the Institute of Arable Crops Research, is one of the oldest agricultural research institutions in the world, at its Harpenden site. It was founded by a fertiliser inventor in 1843.[96]
The 19th century was also a busy period for the military. Ten corps of Volunteer Infantry were formed in 1803.
The first branch railway line in England was the
Twentieth century
Pre World War II
The two flagship garden cities of Letchworth and Welwyn were central to the development of town planning in England.[102] The first Garden City Company formed in 1903, with £300,000 of capital, and by 1914, Letchworth had a population of around 10,000.[141] Ebenezer Howard bought nearly 1,500 acres (6.1 km2) in 1919, and the first house in Welwyn Garden City was occupied in 1920.[141] The town's official date of founding was 29 April.[142]
In the
The Hertfordshire Volunteer regiment formed on 15 May 1915.[144] On 13 October of that year, a Zeppelin raid hit North Road in Hertford, destroying houses there.[144] In 1916, the Hertfordshire Regiment was transferred to 39th Division and fought at St Julien.[144] Two Victoria Crosses ("VC") were awarded to Hertfordshire men in 1916: one to Corporal Alfred Alexander Burt[144] and one to Lieutenant William Leefe Robinson, who shot down the first German airship of WWI, a Schutte-Lanz over Cuffley.[144] Second Lieutenant Wulfstan Tempest shot down a Zeppelin on 2 October of that year, and it came down in Potters Bar.[144] The 1st Battalion of the Hertfordshire Regiment fought near Achiet-le-Grant in 1918, and then at the Battle of Havrincourt. It also fought in the advance to Ghissignies. Hertfordshire's last VC of the First World War was awarded in December 1918, after the war had finished: a posthumous VC for Lieutenant Frank Young of Hitchin,[145] who was killed on 18 September 1918, aged 23.[146]
With the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939, 1st and 2nd Battalions of the Hertfordshire Regiment were mobilised.[147] Together with the 6th Battalion of the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment, they made up 162nd Infantry Brigade of the East Anglian Division.[147] Second Battalion would later be at Ver-sur-Mer in Normandy in support of the D-Day landings.
In May 1940, a public meeting at County Hall, Hertford (which was then newly built, having only opened in 1939)[147] was held to consider forming the Hertfordshire Local Defence Volunteers. Nineteen companies formed at once.[147] They became the Hertfordshire Home Guard in December of that year.
In 1942 the 191st (Hertfordshire and Essex Yeomanry) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery formed for an anticipated campaign in Northern Europe.[148] Hertfordshire was central to aircraft manufacture in the Second World War. De Havilland designed their Mosquito in Hatfield[Notes 11] and constructed them at Leavesden, together with Halifax bombers.[150]
Many RAF pilots were trained at Panshanger.[150] From 1940, No. 2 (AC) Squadron was stationed at RAF Sawbridgeworth, with the purpose of mounting tactical reconnaissance sorties over occupied Europe. Initially it operated the Westland Lysander, before re-equipping with the more capable Curtiss Tomahawk and North American Mustang aircraft.[151] About 4000 bombs, 107 V-1 flying bombs, and 47 V-2 rockets fell on Hertfordshire during the Second World War.[150] American Flying Fortresses bombers of the 398th Bombardment Group (Heavy) mounting 195 combat missions against targets on the Continent from RAF Nuthampstead. The United States Army Air Forces used RAF Bovingdon as a training station, while the US VIII Fighter Command Headquarters was at RAF Bushey Hall.[150]
Post-War
After the war,
During the Second World War, sculptor Henry Moore moved to the village of Perry Green in Hertfordshire when his former home was bombed. The Henry Moore Foundation still operates from the village.[Notes 12]
The character of Hertfordshire changed in the later part of the 20th century. In 1992, it was resolved to close the aircraft manufacturing site in Hatfield.
On 17 October 2000, a major rail crash took place in Hatfield.[157] Criticism of Railtrack after the accident was rife, and the company had to pay over £700 million in compensation. It ceased trading owing to insolvency in 2002.[158]
The fire of 11 December 2005 at Buncefield, Hemel Hempstead, was a major disaster. Hertfordshire's Chief Fire Officer, Roy Wilsher, said it was "possibly the largest in peacetime Europe."[159] About sixty million gallons of petrol burned,[159] the largest of the explosions measured just under 2.5 on the Richter scale, and the smoke darkened skies in neighbouring towns for two days before it could be extinguished.
In a long, gradual decline in agriculture, fishing and forestry, the 2011 census recorded 1,878 Hertfordshire workers employed in this sector.[160]
Conservation
Hertfordshire has a larger number of listed buildings and village greens pre-dating 1700 than Greater London, see for example
Crime and criminals
A seventeenth-century highwaywoman, called the "Wicked Lady", preyed on travellers on
Near the cell there is a well
Near the well there is a tree
Near the tree the treasure be
In one of the last witch trials recorded, Jane Wenham, of Walkern, was convicted of witchcraft in 1712. The accused was over the age of 70 at the time.[162] Queen Anne pardoned Wenham, who "lived on in a cottage at Gilston". In 1751, John and Ruth Osborne of Gubblecot, Tring, were accused of witchcraft. A mob dragged them through the village pond until Ruth drowned.[163] One Thomas Colley, a chimney sweep and apparently the ringleader, was hanged; but the people disapproved of the hanging and did not come to watch.[163]
There are records for Hitchin court from the 17th century. William Bogdani wrote in 1744:
... these Hitchiners are the most litigious people on earth, and most of them pretty rich, so that whenever I have attempted a distress they removed the cause to a superior court, where you may believe it is not worth my while to try it for the value of perhaps a 10 shilling or 20 shilling amercement.[164]
In 1783 the vestry organised a watch to "put a stop to the daring robberies almost nightly committed in or near the town."[165] The next year Vincenzo Lunardi's first balloon flight over Britain landed in Standon Green End where a stone commemorates the achievement.[96]
Also in the late 18th century, Hertford's branch of
In 1823, the murder of William Weare in Radlett became known as the first trial by newspaper.[167] The murderer, who was the Mayor of Norwich's son John Thurtell, a notorious gambler,[167] pleaded that the sensational newspaper coverage had prejudiced the court against him. It only took 20 minutes of deliberations for the jury to sentence him to death by hanging.[167] The crowds that gathered for the trial were so large that the judge had trouble getting to the courthouse through the gridlocked streets, and about 15,000 people attended the hanging itself.[167]
The murder of Mercy Nicholls in Railway Street, Hertford, in 1899, ultimately led to a major re-organisation of Hertfordshire's police force.[168]
Authors of Hertfordshire
Sir Henry Chauncy (1632–1719), known for his Historical Antiquities of Hertfordshire (pub. 1700), was made first Recorder of Hertford in 1680. Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834) was educated at Christ's Hospital, Hitchin. William Cowper (1731–1800), poet, was born and lived in Berkhamsted.[170] He was later institutionalised in an asylum in St Albans. Charles Dickens (1812–1870) was often in Hertfordshire (not least to visit his friend Edward Bulwer Lytton, who is mentioned below), and significant elements of his novels are set there. Sir Richard Fanshawe (1608–1666) was born at Ware Park and his memorial tablet is in Ware. E. M. Forster (1879-?) lived at Rook's Nest House between Stevenage and Weston. William Godwin (1756–1836), an anarchist philosopher, was a Chapel Minister in Ware; his feminist wife Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–1797), author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, gave him a daughter, Mary Shelley (1797–1851), who wrote Frankenstein. Graham Greene (1904–1991) was educated at Berkhamsted Grammar School, where his father was headmaster.[154] Julian Grenfell (1888–1915), the First World War poet, lived in Panshanger. Lady Caroline Lamb (1785–1827) lived at Brocket Hall and wrote Glenarvon there after her unhappy love affair with Lord Byron. She is buried in Hatfield.
Film-making in Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire was the home of the pioneering British film maker Arthur Melbourne-Cooper, who was born in St Albans in 1874. He worked in Hertfordshire (but later what became the London Borough of Barnet), and witnessed the birth of the movies as an assistant/cameraman of Birt Acres (1854–1918). Acres, in 1895, co-developed the first British 35 mm moving picture camera under the guidance of British engineer R.W. Paul. Cooper, for the next 20 years, made contributions to the British moving picture industry. In 1908 Cooper set up the first permanent cinema in Hertfordshire, the Alpha Picture House in St Albans, and a cinema operated on this site for 87 years; the 1930s cinema building has recently been restored and re-opened as the Odyssey Cinema.[174][175]
.Nobles and politicians of Hertfordshire
Æthelgifu was a Christian Saxon noblewoman who lived in the county in the late 980s, and her
Sarah Churchill, one of the most influential women in English history, was born as Sarah Jennings in St Albans in 1660.[181] She married the Duke of Marlborough, rose to high favour with Queen Anne, then fell out with the queen and was dismissed, but returned to court after the queen's death. She argued with many important people in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, grew very rich, toured the continent and built Blenheim Palace.[182] Winston Churchill and Diana, Princess of Wales, were both descended from her.
A new title, the Earl of St Albans, was created in 1628 with a short and undistinguished history, effectively wiped out in the civil war shortly thereafter. Rather than revive the Earldom, Charles Beauclerk, illegitimate son of King Charles II and Nell Gwyn, was made Duke of St Albans in 1684.[183] This peerage is as of 2024 on its fourteenth duke.
After the
See also
References
- Footnotes
- ^ The date given varies from source to source; it is variously given as 24 September 673, 26 September 673, and sometimes 672. In the "26 September 672-3" phrasing, this article follows Robinson. While most sources indicate that "Herutford" meant Hertford, it is also quite possible that Hartford, Huntingdonshire was meant.[30]
- ^ Page (1959) gives these dates as 913 and 914 respectively. Williamson (2000) notes that it is unusual to have two burhs in one town, and offers various speculations about the possible reasons why.[38]
- ^ This is the conventional view. It is only fair to note that Dumville (1992) has a different and more complex view of the division. He sees the eastern side of Hertfordshire as Saxon and the western side as Norse; Williamson (2000) assesses this as persuasive because it solves questions involving place-names, but not without difficulties of its own.[38]
- ^ Most Sources regard Berkhamsted as the place where this event took at, though a minority favour Little Berkhamsted, east of Hatfield.
- ^ St Albans is technically a city, but important though it was (and is), it has never been large.
- ^ Sixteen new markets were created between 1100 and 1200, and a further 19 appeared between 1200 and 1350. About a third of these had disappeared by 1500.[70]
- ^ She died at Hertford Castle in 1358.[82]
- Guinness Book of Records. The matter is disputed.[94]
- ^ By 1621, the estate included 117 acres of arable land, 99 of meadow, 86 of woodland and 82 of pasture. Over nine miles of brick wall were built around it all.[108]
- ^ Of those who signed the muster roll for the Hitchin Volunteers between 1803 and 1809, 68% could sign their own name. The recruiting officer put a cross beside the names of those who could not.[125]
- ^ They had moved to Hatfield from Edgware in 1933.[149]
- ^ In 2005, one of Moore's statues—weighing 2.1 tonnes and worth in excess of £3 million—was stolen from there.[156]
- East Hertfordshire District Council own it and it is open to the public.[171]
- ^ Æthelgifu's will is one of only seventeen extant wills in Old English, and it is by far the most extensive of them. It gives much more detail on slave- and land-ownership in this period than any other document, and shows that a woman could have considerable wealth. The will is written in vellum in a minuscule hand, and the original still exists; an American consortium bought it in 1969 and it is now in New Jersey.[177]
- Citations
- ^ Lydekker 1909, p. 76.
- ^ Rook 1984, p. 20.
- ^ "The Early Mesolithic Period" Archived 21 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine, Hertfordshire County Council, retrieved 9 August 2009.
- ^ "Ware - The Story so Far " Archived 2013-05-01 at the Wayback Machine, Ware Online, retrieved 20 December 2012.
- ^ Williamson 2000, p. 23.
- ^ Castleden 1992, pp. 123-126
- ^ Williamson 2000, p. 24.
- ^ Kiln & Partridge 1994, p. 18.
- ^ Kiln & Partridge 1994, p. 23.
- ^ Kiln & Partridge 1994, pp. 28-62.
- ^ Williamson 2000, p. 37.
- ^ a b "Tribes and Chieftains: The Iron Age" Archived 21 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine, Hertfordshire County Council, retrieved 9 August 2009.
- ^ Cuncliffe 2005, p. 163.
- ^ Shields 2010, p. 13.
- ^ Shields 2010, p. 17.
- ^ Shields 2010, p. 18.
- ^ a b "British History Timeline", BBC, retrieved 5 May 2010.
- ^ Cunliffe 2005, p. 161.
- ISBN 0-86054-835-X.
- ^ Robinson 1978, p. 3.
- ^ Robinson 1978, p. 4.
- ^ "Verulamium Museum". St Albans Museums. St Albans City and District Council. Archived from the original on 29 May 2010. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
- ^ a b Darvill et al. 2002, pp. 262-263
- ^ Williamson 2000, p. 48.
- ^ Kiln & Partridge 1994, p. 41.
- ^ a b Williamson 2000, p. 85.
- ^ Williamson 2000, p. 64.
- ^ Kiln & Partridge 1994, p. 63.
- ^ Robinson 1978, p. 7.
- ^ Kiln & Partridge 1994, p. 116.
- ^ Page 1959, p. 16.
- ^ Shields 2010, p. 20.
- ^ a b Lydekker 1909, p. 78.
- ^ Keynes 1991, p. 133.
- ^ Shields 2010, p. 25.
- ^ a b Shields 2010, p. 26.
- ^ a b Robinson 1978, p. 12.
- ^ a b c d e Williamson 2000, p. 90.
- ^ Page 1959, p. 19.
- ^ Williamson 2000, p. 92.
- ^ "The Later Anglo-Saxon Period" Archived 21 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine, Hertfordshire County Council, retrieved 31 July 2009.
- ^ Robinson 1978, p. 11.
- ^ Kiln & Partridge 1994, appendices.
- ^ Stenton 1971, p. 380.
- ^ Shields 2010, p. 29.
- ^ Rook 1984, p. 33.
- ^ Shields 2010, p. 34.
- ^ Shields 2010, p. 36.
- ^ Rook 1984, p. 37.
- ^ http://opendomesday.org/county/hertfordshire/ Open Domesday Map: Hertfordshire
- ^ a b c "The Medieval Period" Archived 27 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine, Hertfordshire County Council, retrieved 31 July 2009.
- ^ Perkins 1903, p. 8.
- ^ a b Bartlett 2000, p. 160.
- ^ Bartlett 2000, p. 247.
- ^ a b Bartlett 2000, p. 169.
- ^ Shields 2010, p. 38.
- ^ a b "Later Middle Ages" Archived 16 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine, North Hertfordshire District Council, retrieved 3 May 2010.
- ^ Slater & Goose 1992, p. 277.
- ^ Bartlett 2000, p. 43.
- ^ a b Robinson 1978, p. 24.
- ^ Rook 1984, p. 39.
- ^ Bartlett 2000, p. 66.
- ^ a b c Lydekker 1909, p. 81.
- ^ Bartlett 2000, p. 255.
- ^ a b Robinson 1978, p. 31.
- ^ Slater & Goose 1992, p. 81.
- ^ a b Slater & Goose 1992, p. 375.
- ^ Slater & Goose 1992, p.103.
- ^ Slater & Goose 1992, p. 48.
- ^ Slater & Goose 1992, p. 57.
- ^ Slater & Goose 1992, p. 53.
- ^ Slater & Goose 1992, p. 63.
- ^ Rook 1984, p. 60.
- ^ Robinson 1978, p. 20.
- ^ Robinson 1978, p. 21-22.
- ^ a b Shields 2010, p. 37.
- ^ Rook 1984, p. 51.
- ^ Robinson 1978, p. 19.
- ^ Catholic Encyclopedia 1913, Pope Adrian IV
- ^ Robinson 1978, p. 32.
- ^ a b Chambers Biographical Dictionary, "Robert of Wallingford", p. 1127.
- ^ a b Robinson 1978, p. 34.
- ^ Robinson 1978, p. 38.
- ^ Slater & Goose 1992, p. 61.
- ^ Dr Mike Ibeji, "Black Death: Political and Social Changes", BBC, retrieved 3 August 2009.
- ^ a b Lydekker 1909, p. 82.
- ^ a b c d Robinson 1978, p. 41.
- ^ Slater & Goose 1992, p. 56.
- ^ a b c d Robinson 1978, p. 43.
- ^ Robinson 1978, p. 42.
- ^ a b Rook 1984, p. 67.
- ^ a b Robinson 1978, p. 45.
- ^ Rook 1984, p. 72.
- ^ "Local History Trip to Jerusalem", BBC, retrieved 21 May 2010.
- ^ Feiling 1950, p. 272.
- ^ ISBN 0-09-190207-X.
- ^ a b Feiling 1950, p. 511.
- ^ Feiling 1950, p. 512.
- ^ Robinson 1978, p. 49.
- ^ Robinson 1978, p. 53.
- ^ Turnor 1830, p. 71.
- ^ a b c d e "The Post-Medieval and Modern Periods" Archived 21 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine, Hertfordshire County Council, retrieved 31 July 2009.
- ^ a b Lydekker 1909, p. 84.
- ^ a b Rook 1984, p. 83.
- ^ a b c d Rook 1984, p. 84.
- ^ Quoted in Tomkins 1998, p. 35.
- ^ Jones-Baker 1991, p. 93.
- ^ Jones-Baker 1991, p. 95.
- ^ Jones-Baker 1991, p. 98.
- ^ Quoted in Rook 1984, p. 79.
- ^ Robinson 1992, p. 70.
- ^ a b Rook 1984, p. 85.
- ^ Robinson 1978, p. 75
- ^ a b Jones-Baker 1991, p. 175.
- ^ Jones-Baker 1991, p. 178.
- ^ a b c d Tomkins 1922, p. 24.
- ^ 2001 Office for National Statistics, retrieved 4 August 2009.
- ^ Robinson 1978, p. 83.
- ^ Robinson 1978, p. 84.
- ^ Rook 1984, p. 87.
- ^ a b Robinson 1978, p. 86.
- ^ Robinson 1978, p. 92.
- ^ a b Robinson 1978, p. 93.
- ^ a b c Robinson 1978, p. 94.
- ^ "Hertfordshire Archive" Archived 9 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Hertfordshire Archive, retrieved 4 August 2009.
- ^ a b Robinson 1978, p. 95.
- ^ Robinson 1978, p. 98.
- ^ Robinson 1978, p. 99.
- ^ a b c Robinson 1978, p. 100.
- ^ Robinson 1978, p. 102.
- ^ Robinson 1978, p. 104.
- ^ a b Robinson 1978, p. 109.
- ^ a b Robinson 1978, p. 116.
- ^ Robinson 1978, p. 97.
- ^ Robinson 1978, p. 118.
- ^ Robinson 1978, p. 120.
- ^ Robinson 1978, p. 114.
- ^ Rook 1984, p. 102.
- ^ a b c d Rook 1984, p. 103.
- ^ Rook 1984, p. 104.
- ^ a b Rook 1984, p. 128.
- ^ "Three Counties History", BBC, retrieved 5 May 2010.
- ^ a b c d Robinson 1978, p. 124.
- ^ a b c d e f Robinson 1978, p. 125.
- ^ Robinson 1978, p. 126.
- ^ "Young VC", Bedford Regiment, retrieved 1 May 2010.
- ^ a b c d Robinson 1978, p. 130.
- ^ Robinson 1978, p. 131.
- ^ Robinson 1978, p. 129.
- ^ a b c d Rook 1984, p. 130.
- ^ "RAF Sawbridgeworth". Retrieved 14 November 2012.
- ^ a b c d Rook 1984, p. 132.
- ^ Michael Harrison, "Glorious Chapter of Aviation History", The Independent, retrieved 13 May 2010.
- ^ a b c d "Hertfordshire Literary Map Feature", BBC, retrieved 8 November 2009.
- ^ "Elstree and Potters Bar". UK Births, Marriages and Deaths. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
- ^ "Henry Moore", BBC, retrieved 5 August 2009.
- ^ "Hatfield Rail Crash", BBC, retrieved 30 April 2010.
- ^ "Railtrack Goes Bankrupt", The Independent, retrieved 1 May 2010.
- ^ a b "Buncefield Fire", BBC, retrieved 6 August 2009.
- ^ Key Statistics: Industry 2011 census
- ^ Robinson 1978, p. 18.
- ^ Robinson 1978, p. 81.
- ^ a b Robinson 1978, p. 85.
- ^ Quoted in Slater & Goose 1992, p. 213.
- ^ Slater & Goose 1992, p. 213.
- ^ a b c d "Murderous Pieman", BBC, retrieved 8 November 2009.
- ^ a b c d "Elstree Murder Feature", BBC, retrieved 8 November 2009.
- ^ "Hertford Horror", BBC, retrieved 8 November 2009.
- ^ Robinson 1978, p. 40.
- ^ Chambers Biographical Dictionary, "Cowper, William", p. 340.
- ^ "Grotto" Archived 4 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine, East Hertfordshire District Council, retrieved 5 August 2009.
- ^ Robinson 1978, p. 123.
- ^ Chambers Biographical Dictionary, "Walshingham, Thomas", p. 1393.
- ^ "Locally Listed Buildings: Area 5a: London Road" (PDF). St Albans City & District Council. p. 164. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 March 2018. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
- ^ "The Odyssey History". Odyssey Cinema St Albans. Archived from the original on 23 March 2018. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
- ^ "Elstree Studios", Elstree Studios, retrieved 5 August 2009.
- ^ Whitlock 1968, preface.
- ^ Whitelock 1968, p. 14.
- ^ Williamson 2000, p. 107.
- ^ Susan Doran, "Seymour [Grey], Katherine, countess of Hertford (1540?–1568)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, September 2004; online edn, January 2008 retrieved 15 May 2010 (subscription required).
- ^ Page, William (editor) (1908). "The City of St. Alban" in: "A History of the County of Hertford: volume 2", Victoria County History pp. 469–477, retrieved 4 August 2009.
- ^ "Biography of Sarah Jennings", Berkshire History, retrieved 5 August 2009.
- ^ Stephen, Leslie, ed. (1885). . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 4. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
- ^ Cecil 1922, Vol. I., p. 8
- ^ Cecil 1922, Vol. III. p. viii.
- ^ Rook 1984, p. 124.
- ^ Rook 1984, p. 117.
- ^ a b "Arthur James Balfour" Archived 2008-08-25 at the Wayback Machine, 10 Downing Street Website, retrieved 10 November 2009.
- Bibliography
- Pope Adrian IV. The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York Encyclopedia Press Inc. 1913
- ISBN 978-0-19-822741-0
- Burley, Elliott & Watson. The Battles of St Albans, Barnsley: Pen & Sword, 2007. ISBN 978-1-84415-569-9
- ISBN 0-14-139077-8
- Castleden, Rodney. Neolithic Britain: new stone age sites of England, Scotland, and Wales, Routledge, 1992. ISBN 0-415-05845-7
- Cecil, Lady G. Life of Robert, Marquis of Salisbury, London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1922.
- ISBN 0-304-29500-0
- ISBN 978-0-415-34779-2
- Darville, Timothy, Timby, Jane & Stamper, Paul. England: an Oxford archaeological guide to sites from earliest times to AD 1600. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002. ISBN 0-19-284101-7
- ISBN 978-0851153087.
- Feiling, Keith. A History of England from the Coming of the English to 1918. Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1950. Citations from the 1972 Book Club Associates reprint.
- Jones-Baker, Doris (ed.) Hertfordshire in History. Originally published by Hertfordshire Local History Council, 1991; citations from the 2004 edition by the Hatfield: University of Hertfordshire Press. ISBN 0-9542189-4-9.
- Keynes, Simon in Lapidge, Michael. The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 1999. ISBN 0-631-22492-0.
- Kiln, Robert & Partridge, Clive. Ware and Hertford from Birth to Middle Age. Hertford: Castlemead Publications, 1994. ISBN 0-948555-37-8
- Lydekker, Richard. Hertfordshire. University Press, 1909; citations are from the 2008 scan on Google Books. ISBN 978-1-4097-0434-8.
- Page, Dr Frances M. History of Hertford. Hertford: Hertford Town Council, 1959; citations from the second edition of 1993. ISBN 0-9522390-1-9.
- Partington, Angela, ed. The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996. ISBN 0-19-860058-5.
- Perkins, Thomas. Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Saint Albans, London: George Bell & Sons.
- Robinson, Gwennah. Barracuda Guide to County History, Vol III: Hertfordshire. Chesham: Barracuda Books Ltd., 1978. ISBN 0-86023-030-9.
- Rook, Tony. A History of Hertfordshire. London: Philmore & Co. Ltd., 1984. ISBN 1-86077-015-0.
- Slater, Terry & Goose, Nigel (eds.) A County of Small Towns. Hatfield: University of Hertfordshire Press, 1992. ISBN 978-1-905313-44-0.
- Shields, Pamela. Royal Hertfordshire: Murders and Misdemeanours. Stroud: Amberley Publishing Plc, 2010. ISBN 978-1-84868-313-6.
- ISBN 0-19-280139-2.
- Thorne, J. O. and Collocott, T. C. Chambers Biographical Dictionary. Edinburgh: W & R Chambers Ltd., 1984. ISBN 978-0-550-18022-3.
- Tomkins, Herbert. Hertfordshire. London: Methuen & Co. Ltd., 1903, revised 1922; citations are from the scan on Project Gutenberg.
- Tomkins, Malcolm. So That Was Hertfordshire: Travellers' Jottings 1322–1887. Hertford: Hertfordshire Publications, 1998. ISBN 0-901354-87-2.
- Turnor, Lewis. History of the Ancient Town and Borough of Hertford. Hertford: St Austin and Sons, 1830.
- Whitelock, Dorothy. (ed.) The Will of Æthelgifu. Oxford: Roxburghe Club, Oxford, 1968.
- Williamson, Tom. The Origins of Hertfordshire. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2000. ISBN 978-0-7190-4491-5.